Mobile terminal apparatus

ABSTRACT

A purpose of the present invention is that even in a portable terminal apparatus for executing a wireless communication, information can be acquired from a site on a predetermined network every predetermined time instant, and a user can easily acquire desirable information when it is required. A control unit ( 11 ) contains an accessing process sequence setting unit ( 21 ) and an accessing process executing unit ( 22 ). The accessing process sequence setting unit ( 21 ) is capable of arbitrarily setting an access setting condition related to an access to a specific site on a network in response to an instruction of the user. The accessing process executing unit ( 22 ) executes a predetermined process sequence in accordance with this access setting condition when the present time is reached to a preset time instant, and accesses the specific site so as to acquire data. A memory ( 12 ) contains an accessing process sequence storage unit ( 23 ), and a data storage unit ( 24 ). The accessing process sequence storage unit ( 23 ) stores thereinto a series of the process sequences made based upon the access setting condition as a macro-formatted program. The data storage unit 24 stores thereinto the data acquired from the specific site. Even in such a case that a failure specific to a portable terminal apparatus happens to occur, for instance, when the portable terminal apparatus is located outside a service area where electromagnetic waves can be reached, while a process operation is carried out based upon the access setting condition, an automatic cyclically accessing operation can be carried out even in the wireless terminal apparatus for performing the wireless communication.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a portable terminal apparatus forcyclically accessing Web sites, and the like on the Internet to acquireinformation therefrom.

Background Art

In terminal apparatus with employment of personal computers and thelike, while these terminal apparatus are connected via mainly wiredcommunication lines to networks such as the Internet, the terminalapparatus can acquire target information by viewing Web sites which mayprovide information on the networks, and/or by downloading data fromservers which constitute Web sites. In such a case that information isacquired in such terminal apparatus, a so-called “automatic cyclicallyaccessing method” has been proposed (refer to, for example, patentpublication 1, patent publication 2, and patent publication 3). That is,in this automatic cyclically accessing method, while a site to beaccessed has been previously designated, a terminal apparatusautomatically accesses the designated site in a predetermined timeperiod, or at a predetermined time instant so as to acquire the targetinformation. This method has a merit in the case that terminal apparatusaccesses the same site in a periodic manner so as to update information,and wants to continuously grasp the latest information.

On the other hand, very recently, Internet functions are mounted even onportable terminal apparatus for performing wireless communications suchas portable telephone apparatus, so that various sorts of informationcan be acquired. For instance, in such a case that news information isacquired by a portable telephone apparatus, the below-mentioned sequenceis carried out. That is, first of all, a connection of the Internet isestablished, and thereafter, a desirable news site is selected byrepeating a selection operation several times in accordance with a menudisplay, or by directly entering URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) ofsites in the portable telephone apparatus. In the conventional portableterminal apparatus, cumbersome operations such as the above-explainedselection operation are required every time the conventional portableterminal apparatus access to a target site in order to acquire necessaryinformation from Web sites, or the like on the Internet.

-   -   (patent publication 1)    -   JP-A-11-213015 (pages 6 to 10, FIG. 1 to FIG. 4)    -   (patent publication 2)    -   JP-A-2001-346174 (pages 3 to 9, FIG. 7)    -   (patent publication 3)    -   JP-A-2001-14210 (pages 2 to 4, FIG. 1)

As previously explained, in the case that the conventional portableterminal apparatus accesses the Web sites and the like on the Internetso as to acquire the information, such a sequence is required in whichthe conventional portable terminal apparatus accesses the target site soas to select the pages which are wanted to be viewed every time theinformation is acquired. As a result, as to a news site and the likewhich are viewed everyday, every time the conventional portable terminalapparatus views the news site and the like, a similar process operationmust be repeatedly carried out. Thus, the conventional portable terminalapparatus owns such a problem that the process operation becomescumbersome. Also, since the dimension of the operation unit of theconventional portable terminal apparatus is small, there is anotherproblem. That is, in such a case that accessing operations arefrequently carried out, a user is forcibly required to perform thecumbersome operations.

Also, in the conventional portable terminal apparatus, information suchas news cannot be automatically distributed, or cannot be automaticallyacquired. Furthermore, since the conventional portable terminalapparatus owns a further problem as to storage capacities thereof, theacquired information may be once viewed, but after a plurality of theacquired information have been stored, the stored information cannot beviewed within one time. Also, since the users carry the portableterminal apparatus during walks, the following problem may occur. Thatis, for example, in the case that the users are moved to places whereelectromagnetic waves cannot be reached (namely, outside service areawhere electromagnetic waves can be reached), the portable terminalapparatus cannot access the target sites.

Under such a circumstance, although the automatic cyclically accessingfunction is desired to be mounted on portable terminal apparatus, theportable terminal apparatus own specific reasons, for example, useenvironments of the portable terminal apparatus may be changed inconnection with transport of the portable terminal apparatus, and thereare many limitations in hardware specifications thereof. As aconsequence, as explained in the background art, if the conventionalportable terminal apparatus merely and automatically cyclic-access apreselected site at a preset time instant, then the conventionalportable terminal apparatus cannot be satisfactorily operated in view ofa practical use.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, andtherefore, has an object to provide such a portable terminal apparatus.That is, since a process sequence related to an access to a site on anetwork is previously and arbitrarily set by a user, the portableterminal apparatus can automatically perform sequential processoperations capable of recovering/processing system operations in thecase that a failure specific to the portable terminal apparatus happensto occur, for instance, when the portable terminal apparatus is locatedoutside a service area where electromagnetic waves can be reached, andwhen a storage capacity thereof becomes short. Even in the portableterminal apparatus for performing wireless communications, informationcan be acquired at a predetermined time instant by way of an automaticcyclically accessing operation, and desirable information can be readilyobtained when it is required.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

A portable terminal apparatus, according to the present invention, isfeatured by such a portable terminal apparatus comprising: a networkaccess unit for accessing a site on a network so as to acquire data; adata storage unit for storing thereinto the acquired data; an accessingprocess sequence setting unit capable of arbitrarily setting an accesssetting condition which contains an access destination, a time instant,and processing sequence, which are related to the access operation tothe site on the network in response to n instruction of a user; anaccessing process sequence storage unit for storing thereinto a seriesof processing sequences based upon the set access setting condition; andan accessing process executing unit for executing a predeterminedprocessing sequence in accordance with the access setting condition whenthe present time is reached to a preset time instant so as to perform anaccessing process operation with respect to the set site.

With employment of the above-described arrangement, based upon theaccess setting condition which has been arbitrarily set by the user, aseries of the process sequences responding to the access settingcondition are executed at a predetermined time instant in response to amacro instruction of a macro-formatted program, and thus, the portableterminal apparatus automatically accesses the site on the network so asto acquire the data. At this time, since the process sequences capableof recovering/processing system operations in the case that the failurespecific to the portable terminal apparatus happens to occur, forinstance, when the portable terminal apparatus is located outside theservice area where the electromagnetic waves can be reached, and whenthe storage capacity becomes short, are contained in the access settingprocess sequences, the information can be acquired even in the portableterminal apparatus for performing the wireless communication byexecuting the automatic cyclically accessing operation everypredetermined time instant, and the user can easily acquire thedesirable information when the user requires this information.

Also, the accessing process sequence setting unit sets a processingsequence in at least one of an access starting process sequence forstarting an access operation to the set site at the preset time instant;a data acquiring process sequence for acquiring data from the accessedsite; and a data storing process sequence for storing the acquired datainto the data storage unit.

With employment of the above-described arrangement, the processsequences capable of recovering/processing system operations in the casethat the failure specific to the portable terminal apparatus happens tooccur, for instance, when the portable terminal apparatus is locatedoutside the service area where the electromagnetic waves can be reached,and when the storage capacity becomes short, can be set to processsequences as to when an access operation is commenced, when data isacquired, and when data is acquired. As a result, in the case that theportable terminal apparatus accesses a preset site and acquires datafrom this preset site in the automatic cyclically accessing operation,even when a failure happens to occur, the portable terminal apparatuscan properly execute such a process operation in accordance with thecondition set by the user.

Also, the accessing process sequence setting unit sets a processsequence during out of service area in the case that the own apparatusis located outside the service area where communications can beperformed when an access operation to the set site is commenced in theaccess starting process sequence.

With employment of the above-described arrangement, based upon theprocess sequences set by the user, when the access operation iscommenced, the process operation for such a case that the portableterminal apparatus is located outside the service area where thecommunication can be carried out is automatically performed. As aconsequence, in the case that the previously set site is automaticallyaccessed so as to acquire the data, the portable terminal apparatus canproperly execute such a process operation responding to the settingcondition by the user even when the portable terminal apparatus islocated outside the service area.

Also, the accessing process sequence setting unit sets a processsequence during another task initiation in the case that since the ownapparatus executes another task, the own apparatus is under use when anaccess operation to the set site is commenced in the access startingprocess sequence.

With employment of the above-described arrangement, based upon theprocess sequences set by the user, when the access operation iscommenced, the process operation for such a case that the portableterminal apparatus executes a task related to other use, for example,under data communication operation, and thus, is under operation isautomatically carried out. As a consequence, in the case that thepreviously set site is automatically accessed so as to acquire the data,the portable terminal apparatus can properly execute such a processoperation responding to the setting condition by the user even when theportable terminal apparatus initiate another task.

Also, the accessing process sequence setting unit sets a processsequence during site access failure in the case that when the set siteis accessed in the data acquiring process sequence, the accessingoperation fails.

With employment of the above-described arrangement, based upon theprocess sequences set by the user, the process operation for such a casethat the portable terminal apparatus fails in an access operation byobtaining no answer sent from an access destination is automaticallycarried out, for example, when the portable terminal apparatus accessesthe set site, an access refusal is received, or the relevant site is notpresent. As a consequence, in the case that the previously set site isautomatically accessed so as to acquire the data, the portable terminalapparatus can properly execute such a process operation responding tothe setting condition by the user even when the portable terminalapparatus fails in the site access operation.

Also, the accessing process sequence setting unit sets a processsequence during interruption in the case that when data is acquired fromthe set site in the data acquiring process sequence, the own apparatusaccepts an interrupt request.

With employment of the above-described arrangement, based upon theprocess sequences set by the user, the process operation for such a casethat the portable terminal apparatus receives an interrupt request asanother use, for example, a call reception, a mail reception, and a useroperation when the portable terminal apparatus acquires the data fromthe set site is automatically carried out. As a consequence, in the casethat the previously set site is automatically accessed so as to acquirethe data, the portable terminal apparatus can properly execute such aprocess operation responding to the setting condition by the user evenwhen the interrupt request is issued.

Also, the accessing process sequence setting unit sets a processsequence during data acquisition failure in the case that when data isacquired from the set site in the data acquiring process sequence, theown apparatus fails to acquire the data.

With employment of the above-described arrangement, based upon theprocess sequences set by the user, the process operation for such a casethat the portable terminal apparatus fails in the data acquisition, forexample, when the portable terminal apparatus is located outside theservice area where the communication can be performed, while theportable terminal apparatus acquires the data from the set site, isautomatically carried out. As a consequence, in the case that thepreviously set site is automatically accessed so as to acquire the data,the portable terminal apparatus can properly execute such a processoperation responding to the setting condition by the user even when theportable terminal apparatus fails in the data acquisition.

Also, the accessing process sequence setting unit sets a processsequence during storage memory shortage in the case that when theacquired data is stored in the data storing process sequence, a storagecapacity of the data storage unit becomes short.

With employment of the above-described arrangement, based upon theprocess sequences set by the user, the process operation for deletingdata is automatically carried out in such a case that while the portableterminal apparatus stores the acquired data, since the storage capacityof the data storage unit becomes short, the acquired data cannot bedirectly stored thereinto. As a consequence, in the case that thepreviously set site is automatically accessed so as to acquire the data,the portable terminal apparatus can properly execute such a processoperation responding to the setting condition by the user even when thestorage capacity of the storage memory becomes short.

Also, the portable terminal apparatus is comprised of: a retrieving unitfor retrieving the acquired data stored in the data storage unit. Withemployment of this arrangement, as to the data acquired from the setsite, desirable acquired data may be easily viewed, for instance, thedesirable data may be extracted from the plural data, or a plurality ofthe desirable data may be combined with each other to form a list so asto confirm the desirable data.

Also, the accessing process sequence setting unit is capable of settinga transfer destination to which the acquired data is transferred; andthe portable terminal apparatus further includes a data transferringunit for transferring the acquired data to the set transfer destination.With employment of this arrangement, the data acquired from the set siteis transferred to a predetermined transfer destination, and thetransferred data may be confirmed at an arbitrary place, and by aterminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for indicating an internal functionalarrangement of a portable telephone apparatus according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for representing a system arrangement inwhich an automatic cyclically accessing system of the Internet isrealized by employing the portable telephone apparatus according to thepresent embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for describing flow operations as to an automaticsite cyclically accessing operation of the portable telephone apparatusaccording to the present embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for showing a portion of display examplesas to automatic cyclic-access setting screens displayed on a displayunit of the portable telephone apparatus according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for describing process flow operations during outof service area which may be arbitrarily set by a user in an automaticcyclic-access processing operation of the portable telephone apparatusaccording to the present embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for describing process flow operations whenanother task is initiated which may be automatically set by the user inthe automatic cyclic-access processing operation of the portabletelephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for describing process flow operations of amodification when another task is initiated which may be automaticallyset by the user in the automatic cyclic-access processing operation ofthe portable telephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart for describing process flow operations when asite accessing operation fails which may be automatically set by theuser in the automatic cyclic-access processing operation of the portabletelephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for describing process flow operations when aninterrupt operation is executed which may be automatically set by theuser in the automatic cyclic-access processing operation of the portabletelephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for describing process flow operations when adata acquiring operation fails which may be automatically set by theuser in the automatic cyclic-access processing operation of the portabletelephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for describing process flow operations when ashortage of a storage memory occurs which may be automatically set bythe user in the automatic cyclic-access processing operation of theportable telephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for representing a display example of anotification screen while an automatic access operation is carried out,which is displayed on the display unit of the portable telephoneapparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram for representing a display example of anotification screen as to a result obtained when the automatic accessoperation is carried out, which is displayed on the display unit of theportable telephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram for showing a first display example as toan acquired data list screen which is displayed on the display unit ofthe portable telephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for showing a second display example asto an acquired data list screen which is displayed on the display unitof the portable telephone apparatus according to the present embodiment;and

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram for showing a third display example as toan acquired data list screen which is displayed on the display unit ofthe portable telephone apparatus according to the present embodiment.

It should be noted that in the drawings, reference numeral 11 shows acontrol unit; reference numeral 12 indicates a memory; reference numeral13 representing a communication processing unit; reference numeral 14shows a wireless communication unit; reference numeral 15 denotes adisplay unit; reference numeral 16 represents an operation unit;reference numeral 21 indicates an access process sequence setting unit;reference numeral 23 shows an access process sequence storage unit;reference numeral 24 indicates a data storage unit; reference numeral100 represents a portable telephone apparatus; reference numeral 200indicates a base station, reference numeral 300 denotes a network; andreference numeral 400 represents a server.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring now to drawings, an embodiment of the present invention willbe described.

In the present embodiment, such a case is exemplified. That is, while aportable telephone apparatus is employed as an example of a portableterminal apparatus, the portable telephone apparatus is connected to anetwork such as the internet, and accesses a site such as a Web on thenetwork so as to acquire information therefrom. FIG. 1 is a blockdiagram for indicating an internal functional arrangement of a portabletelephone apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for representing a system arrangement inthe case that an automatic cyclically accessing system of the Internetis realized by employing the portable telephone apparatus according tothe present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the portable telephone apparatus according to thepresent embodiment is arranged by mainly including a control unit 11, amemory 12, a communication processing unit 13, a wireless communicationunit 14, a display unit 15, and an operation unit 16.

The control unit 11 corresponds to a block which controls an entireoperation of the portable telephone apparatus. The control unit 11contains an access process sequence setting unit 21 (will be explainedlater) and an access process executing unit 22 (will be discussedlater). The access process sequence setting unit 21 corresponds to anaccess process sequence setting unit recited in claims. The accessprocess executing unit 22 corresponds to an access process executingunit recited in the claims. This control unit 11 includes a CPU forexecuting various sorts of calculations, a RAM functioning as a workmemory, a ROM which has stored thereinto a program of controloperations, and the like (any of these structural components are notshown). The access process sequence setting unit 21 and the accessprocess executing unit 22 are stored in the ROM in the form of a programwhich is executed by the control unit 11.

While the memory 12 contains an access process sequence storage unit 23for storing thereinto an access process sequence which is arbitrarilyset by a user, and a data storage unit 24 for storing thereinto suchdata which has been acquired by accessing a site on the network, thismemory 12 is used to store thereinto various sorts of data. The accessprocess sequence storage unit 23 corresponds to an access processsequence storage unit recited in the claims. The data storage unit 24corresponds to a data storage unit recite in the claims.

The communication processing unit 13 corresponds to such a block whichperforms process operations related to communications such as telephonefunctions, data communication functions, and the like. In the telephonefunctions, a telephone calling operation, a telephone call receivingoperation, a telephone voice communication processing operation arecarried out. In the data communication functions, an access operation toa server on the network, and a communication data processing operationare carried out. Also, the wireless communication unit 14 corresponds tosuch a block that a communication signal is transmitted/received by wayof a wireless communication manner. A network access unit recited in theclaims is constituted by a network access function made by thecommunication processing unit 13, the wireless communication unit 14,and the control unit 11.

Also, both the display unit 15 and the operation unit 16 are provided asa user interface which is used to input and output data. The displayunit 15 is arranged by a liquid crystal display device, and the like.This display unit 15 displays thereon various sorts of information suchas operation conditions of the apparatus. The operation unit 16 isconstituted by a plurality of operation keys, and the like, and entersdata and instructions by being operated by the user.

As shown in FIG. 2, a portable telephone apparatus 100 is connected viaa wireless interface to a base station 200. The base station 200 isconnected via a communication line to a network 300 such as theInternet. As the communication line, either a mobile communicationnetwork or a public communication network (PSTN, ISDN etc.) is provided.While a server 400 which constitutes sites such as Web sites fordistributing various sorts of information is provided on the network300, the server 400 is mutually connected to the portable telephoneapparatus 100 and the base station 200. The portable telephone apparatus100 may access the server 400 on the network 300 and may download dataprovided from the server 400 in accordance with a predeterminedprocedure.

Next, a description is made of operations as to the portable telephoneapparatus according to this embodiment. When the user issues anoperation instruction in accordance with a menu and executes apredetermined access setting operation so as to set a process sequentialoperation related to an access to a specific site, the portabletelephone apparatus 100 of the present embodiment stores a series ofprocess sequential operations based upon this access setting operationas a macro-formatted program into the access process sequence storageunit 23. Then, the portable telephone apparatus 100 can execute processsequential operations in accordance with the above-explained accesssetting operation in response to a macro instruction made based upon themacro-formatted program which has been stored, and thus, canautomatically cyclic-access a specific site for a predetermined timeperiod, so that data of the specific site can be acquired and stored.

Firstly, an automatic cyclically accessing operation according to thepresent embodiment is now explained, and concrete access settingoperations for the automatic cyclically accessing operation will beexplained later. FIG. 3 is a flow chart for describing flow operationsas to automatic site cyclically accessing operations executed by theportable telephone apparatus according to the present embodiment.

(1) Access Time Instant Waiting Process Routine

While the portable telephone apparatus 100 grasps a time instant by aclock (not shown) within the control unit 11, the portable telephoneapparatus 100 judges whether or not the present time is approached to anaccess setting time instant which has been set by a user under controlof the control unit 11 (step S101).

(2) Access Starting Process Routine

When the present time is reached to the access setting time instantwhich has been set by the user in the step S101, the portable telephoneapparatus 100 confirms whether or not the own apparatus 100 can performa communication operation (namely, own apparatus 100 is present inservice area where electromagnetic waves can be reached) in a step S102.In the case that the own apparatus 100 is located outside the servicearea where the electromagnetic waves can be reached, the portabletelephone apparatus 100 executes a process operation during out ofservice area (will be explained later) in a step S103. On the otherhand, in the case that the own apparatus 100 can perform thecommunication operation, the portable telephone apparatus 100 confirmsthat the own apparatus 100 is brought into such a condition that the ownapparatus 100 can access a specifically-set site which has been set bythe user in a step S104.

In such a case that while another task is initiated, the own apparatus100 cannot access the set site, the portable telephone apparatus 100executes a process operation during another task initiation (will bediscussed later) in a step S105. The expression “while another task isinitiated” implies, for example, “while the own apparatus 100 is undertelephone communication”, “while the won apparatus 100 accesses anothersite of the Internet”, and the like. When the portable telephoneapparatus 100 is under such a condition that the own apparatus 100 canaccess the set site in the step S104, the control unit 11 executes anaccess operation to the specifically-set site by the communicationprocessing unit 13 and the wireless communication unit 14 in a stepS106.

(3) Data Acquiring Process Routine

Next, the portable telephone apparatus 100 judges whether or not the ownapparatus 100 can succeed in an access to the relevant site (step S107).When the portable telephone apparatus 100 fails in the access to therelevant site, the own apparatus 100 executes a process operation duringsite access failure will be explained later (step 108). As theabove-described site access failure, the following cases areconceivable, namely, in the case that a site set by the user is notpresent, a server of an accessed site cannot respond due to loadconcentration, or malfunction, and the like. When the portable telephoneapparatus 100 can succeed in the access operation in the step S107, theown apparatus 100 commences to acquire data, and judges whether or notan interrupt request is issued during data acquiring operation (stepS109). It should be understood that the acquired data is temporarilystored in the RAM functioning as the work memory employed in the controlunit 11.

In the case that such an interrupt request as a telephone call to theown apparatus 100 is issued during the data acquisition operation, theportable telephone apparatus 100 executes a process operation duringinterruption operation (will be explained later) in a step S10. In thecase that no interrupt request is issued in the step S109, the portabletelephone apparatus 100 judges whether or not the data acquisitionoperation has not been accomplished under abnormal condition (stepS111). In such a case that an abnormal event happens to occur (namely,line is cut off during data acquisition operation), and thus, the dataacquisition operation is ended under abnormal condition, the portabletelephone apparatus 100 executes a process operation during dataacquisition failure (will be explained later) in a step S112. On theother hand, in the case that the data acquisition operation has not beenaccomplished under abnormal condition in the step S111, the portabletelephone apparatus 100 judges whether or not the data acquisitionoperation is accomplished (step S113). In the case that the dataacquisition operation has not yet been accomplished, the processoperation is returned to a point which is indicated by symbol “B” withinthe flow chart, and thus, the sequential operations defined from thestep S107 are repeatedly carried out.

(4) Data Storing Process Routine

When the judgement is made that the data acquisition operation isaccomplished in the step S113, the portable telephone apparatus 100confirms an empty storage capacity of the data storage unit 24 in thememory 12, and judges whether or not a size of the acquired data can bestored in the data storage unit 24 (step S114). In such a case that thesize of the acquired data is large, so that this acquired data cannot bestored within the empty storage capacity of the data storage unit 24,the portable telephone apparatus 100 executes a process operation duringstorage memory storage (will be explained later) in a step S115. In thecase that the empty storage capacity is larger than the acquired data,the portable telephone apparatus 100 stores the acquired data into thedata storage unit 24 (step S116). Finally, the portable telephoneapparatus 100 turns ON a data acquisition status, which indicates acompletion of executing the data acquisition (step S117), and then,accomplishes the series of the automatic cyclically accessing processoperation.

Although the data has been once acquired and then the empty storagecapacity of the data storage unit 24 in the memory 12 has been confirmedin the above-described sequential operations, the below-mentionedmodification may be conceived. For instance, a size of data may bealternatively confirmed by way of such a method that information as toonly the size thereof is transmitted before this data is acquired, orthe information as to the size thereof is combined in front of the dataand then the data combined with the size information is transmitted. Atthis stage, the portable telephone apparatus 100 may alternativelyconfirm an empty storage capacity of the data storage unit 24 undercontrol of the control unit 11. Then, if the required empty storagecapacity is available, then the portable telephone apparatus 100 mayalternatively acquire the data. In the case that the necessary emptystorage capacity is not present, the portable telephone apparatus 100may alternatively execute a process operation during storage memoryshortage (will be discussed later) so as to delete old data, and thelike, so that an empty storage capacity may be increased, andthereafter, the data may be acquired. Since such a modification isexecuted, the acquired data may be directly stored in the data storageunit 24 without requiring a memory area which is used to once storethereinto the data.

It should also be understood that the above-explained automaticcyclically accessing operation is executed with respect to each of thesites which have been set by the user. Also, in the flow operations ofthe automatic cyclically accessing operations shown in the flow chart ofFIG. 3, the respective process sequential operations are executed basedupon the operations of the access process executing unit 22 of thecontrol unit 11.

In the above-described sequential operations, the respective processblocks as to the process operation during out of service area (stepS103), the process operation during another task initiation (step S105),the process operation during site access failure (step S108), theprocess operation during interruption operation (step S110), the processoperation during data acquisition failure (step S112), and the processoperation during storage memory storage (step S115), correspond to suchblocks that the user of the portable telephone apparatus 100 canpreviously and arbitrarily set process sequences as access settingoperations. The setting operation for this access setting operation canbe carried out based upon the operations of the access process sequencesetting unit 21 in accordance with a menu displayed on the display unit15 of the portable telephone apparatus 100. A content of an accesssetting operation is stored into the access process sequence storageunit 23 as a program formed in a macro form (namely, macro-formattedprogram). The automatic cyclically accessing process operation isexecuted by the access process executing unit 22 in accordance with amacro instruction which is produced based upon this macro-formattedprogram. Each of the process sequences may be carried out everyarbitrary access subject, for example, every site, and every group ofplural sites. Apparently, the content of the setting operation may bechanged.

Next, as to each of the process blocks which may be arbitrarily set bythe user of the portable telephone apparatus 100, a concrete settingmethod of process sequences and process flow operations thereof will nowbe described in detail.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for indicating a portion of a displayexample as to an automatic cyclic-access setting screen displayed on thedisplay unit 15 of the portable telephone apparatus 100. When an item ofan automatic cyclic-access setting operation is selected from a menuscreen, a registration screen of a site macro setting menu 1 asrepresented in FIG. 4(a) is displayed.

In the beginning, a site name and a URL of an access destination whichis automatically and cyclically accessed are entered; a selection ismade of an access period, for example, “every week”, “every day”, and“every hour” as an access setting time instant when an automaticcyclically accessing operation is carried; and a time instantcorresponding to the selected access period is also entered. As aresult, the time instant (period) when the designated site is accessedis determined. It should also be noted that when the site name and theURL are entered, these site name and URL may be alternatively copied byusing a bookmark function of the portable telephone apparatus 100, ormay be directly entered on a character input screen as indicated in FIG.4(b).

After the input operation is accomplished on the registration screen ofFIG. 4(a), when an OK button under the registration screen is pushed, aregistration screen of a site macro setting menu 2 as indicated in FIG.4(c) is displayed. With employment of this display screen, both thesequences as to the process operation during out of service area and thesequences as to the process operation during another task initiation canbe set.

When the sequences as to the process operation during out of servicearea are set, as indicated in FIG. 4(c), the user selects that the siteaccess operation is invalidated when the own apparatus 100 is locatedoutside the service area where the electromagnetic waves can be reached,or selects that the re-accessing operation is performed after apredetermined time has elapsed. When the re-accessing operation iscarried out, a time for this re-accessing operation is also inputted.Since this item selection is made, sequences as to process operationsduring out of service area as represented in a flow chart of FIG. 5 areset.

In this case, a description is made of the process operations during outof service area with reference to FIG. 5. When the own apparatus 100 islocated outside the service area where the electromagnetic waves can bereached and the process operation thereof is entered to this processblock during out of service area, the portable telephone apparatus 100firstly judges whether or not the access process operation underexecution is ceased to be invalidated (step S201). In such a case thatit has been so set that the access process operation is invalidatedduring out of service area, the portable telephone apparatus 100 ceasesthe access process operation (step S202), and accomplishes the processoperation during out of service. On the other hand, in the case that ithas been so set that the re-access operation is carried out, theportable telephone apparatus 100 turns ON a timer setting operation ofthe re-accessing operation for the set time duration so as to start atimer counting operation (step S203), and the process operation thereofis returned to the point indicated by symbol “A” in the flow chart ofFIG. 3. Then, the portable telephone apparatus 100 repeatedly executesthe process sequences from the step for judging whether or not thepresent time is reached to the access setting time instant.

Also, in the setting operation for the process operations during anothertask initiation, as indicated in FIG. 4(c), in the case that the ownapparatus 100 is under operation due to another use, for example, theown apparatus 100 is operated in a telephone communication, or is underaccess operation to other Internet sites, a selection is made asfollows: That is, such a fact that the present time is reached to thesite access starting time instant of the automatic cyclically accessingoperation is notified to the user. Otherwise, when the portabletelephone apparatus 100 is under use, the access operation is ceased,and after the predetermined time has elapsed, the re-accessing operationis carried out. In the case that the re-accessing operation is carriedout, the time duration for this re-accessing operation is also entered.Since this item selection is carried out, sequences in processoperations during another task initiation as shown in a flow chart ofFIG. 6 are set.

Now, the process operation during another task initiation will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 6. While the own apparatus 100 is underoperation due to another use at the access starting time instant, whenthe process operation is entered to this process operation block duringanother task initiation, the portable telephone apparatus 100 judgeswhether or not a notification is firstly issued to the user (step S301).If it has been so set that the notification is made, then thebelow-mentioned notification is displayed (step S302), and the portabletelephone apparatus 100 judges whether or not the task under initiationis accomplished based upon the notification (step S303). In thisnotification, although the present time is reached to the accessstarting time instant of the automatic cyclically accessing operation,the portable telephone apparatus 100 is presently under use due toanother task. When the display of this notification is repeatedlycarried out until the task under initiation is accomplished, and thetask is ended in the step S303, and then, a site accessing operation isbrought into an available condition, the portable telephone apparatus100 accesses the designated site (step S304). Then, the processoperation is advanced to the point indicated by symbol “B” in the flowchart of FIG. 3. On the other hand, if it has been so set that thenotification is not made in the step S301 (namely, access operation isceased when own apparatus 100 is operated), the portable telephoneapparatus 100 turns ON the timer setting operation of the re-accessingoperation for the set time duration so as to start a timer countingoperation (step S305), and the process operation thereof is returned tothe point indicated by symbol “A” in the flow chart of FIG. 3. Then, theportable telephone apparatus 100 repeatedly executes the sequences as tothe process operations from the step for judging whether or to thepresent time is reached to the access setting time instant.

In the above-described sequences, the notification of “another taskunder initiation” is displayed until this task is ended, and then, whenthis task is ended, the site accessing operation is carried out.Alternatively, the below-mentioned modification may be conceived. FIG. 7indicates sequential operations of modifications as to the processoperation during another task initiation. In a first modification shownin FIG. 7(a), while the own apparatus 100 is under operation due toanother use at the access starting time instant, when the processoperation is entered to this process operation block during another taskinitiation, similar to FIG. 6, the portable telephone apparatus 100judges whether or not a notification is firstly issued to the user (stepS301). If it has been so set that the notification is made, then thebelow-mentioned notification is displayed (step S302). In thisnotification, although the present time is reached to the accessstarting time instant of the automatic cyclically accessing operation,the portable telephone apparatus 100 is presently under use due toanother task. Then, at this stage, the portable telephone apparatus 100displays a selection screen as to whether or not another task isaccomplished (step 306). In such a case that the user views thisselection screen, performs an operation for accomplishing another task,and enters another task ending instruction, the portable telephoneapparatus 100 waits that another task is accomplished, or immediatelyaccomplishes this task under initiation (step S303), and commences anaccess operation to the designated site (step S304). Then, the processoperation is advanced to the point indicated by symbol “B” in the flowchart of FIG. 3. On the other hand, in the case that the user executesuch an operation that another task is not accomplished, and enters ananother task continuing instruction, the portable telephone apparatus100 ceases the present site accessing operation (step S307), and waitsfor a subsequent site access operation.

In a second modification shown in FIG. 7(b), similar to FIG. 7(a), theportable telephone apparatus 100 displays a selection screen as towhether or not another task is accomplished in the step S306. At thistime, in such a case that the user performs such an operation thatanother task is not ended and enters an another task continuinginstruction, the portable telephone apparatus 100 displays a selectionscreen as to whether or not the present site accessing operation isaccomplished (step S308). If the user views this selection screen,performs such an operation that the present site accessing operation isaccomplished, and also, enters a site access ending instruction, thenthe portable telephone apparatus 100 ceases the present site accessingoperation (step S307), and waits for a next site accessing operation. Onthe other hand, if the user performs such an operation that the presentsite accessing operation is not ended, and enters a site accesscontinuing instruction, then the process operation is returned to thestep S305. In this step S305, the portable telephone apparatus 100 turnsON the timer setting operation of the re-accessing operation so as tocommence a time counting operation. As previously explained, the processoperation during another task initiation may be alternatively arrangedby executing the above-explained sequential operations of the firstmodification and the second modification.

After the user has made the selection on the registration screen of FIG.4(c) and has completed the input operation, if the user pushes the OKbutton displayed under the screen, then a next process sequence settingscreen is displayed. As previously explained, since the selection ismade of the item displayed on the display unit 15, the process sequencesin each of the process blocks can be arbitrarily set. Also, as to theprocess operation during site access failure, the process operationduring interruption, the process operation during data acquisitionfailure, and the like, although setting operations may be carried out ina similar screen display, a subsequent screen display example isomitted.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart for representing flow operations as to theprocess operation during site access failure. Even when the portabletelephone apparatus 100 tries to access a designated site at apreselected time instant, since the site is busy and/or this designatedsite is not present in the designated URL, if the process operation isentered to this process block, then the portable telephone apparatus 100judge whether or not the portable telephone apparatus 100 firstly ceasesthe accessing process operation and invalidates this accessing processoperation (step S401). In such a case that it has been so set that theaccessing process operation is invalidated when the site accessoperation fails, the portable telephone apparatus 100 ceases theaccessing process operation (step S402), and accomplishes the processoperation during site access failure. On the other hand, in such a casethat it has been so set that the re-accessing operation is carried out,the portable telephone apparatus 100 turns ON a timer setting operationof the re-accessing operation by the set time duration so as to commencea time counting operation (step S403), and then, the process operationis returned to the point indicated by symbol “A” in the flow chart ofFIG. 3, and thus, the process sequences are repeated from the step forjudging whether or not the present time is reached to the access settingtime instant.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for indicating flow operations as to the processoperation during interruption. If an interrupt request is issued when asite is accessed and the process operation is entered to this processblock, then the portable telephone apparatus 100 firstly judges whetheror not this issued interrupt request corresponds to a call reception(step S501). In the case that this interrupt request is the callreception, the portable telephone apparatus 100 displays such anotification for indicating that the call reception is issued (stepS502), and judges whether or not a data acquisition from a site isinterrupted (step S503). If it has been so set that the data acquisitionowns a priority, then the portable telephone apparatus 100 notifies arefusal of the call reception to the telephone calling side (step S504),and accomplishes the process operation during interruption. Then, theprocess operation is returned to the step S111 in the flow chart of FIG.3, in which the acquiring operation of the data is continued.

In the case that the interrupt request does not correspond to the callreception in the step S501, the process operation is advanced to a stepS505 in which the portable telephone apparatus 100 judges whether or notthe interrupt request corresponds to a mail reception. In the case thatthis interrupt request is the mail reception, the portable telephoneapparatus 100 displays such a notification for indicating that the mailreception is issued (step S606), and judges whether or not a dataacquisition from a site is interrupted (step S507). If it has been soset that the data acquisition owns a priority, then the portabletelephone apparatus 100 does not acquire the mail (step S508), butaccomplishes the process operation during interruption. Then, theprocess operation is returned to the step S111 in the flow chart of FIG.3, in which the acquiring operation of the data is continued.

In such a case that the interrupt request does not correspond to themail reception in a step S505, the portable telephone apparatus 100judges that the interrupt request corresponds to another interruptrequest, for example, an operation of the portable telephone apparatus100 by the user, and then, the process operation is advanced to a stepS509 in which the portable telephone apparatus 100 displays such anotification for indicating that the data is now acquired from the site,and judges whether or not a data acquisition from the site isinterrupted (step S520). If it has been so set that the data acquisitionowns a priority, then the input operation of the operation unit 16 bythe user is ceased (step S511), and accomplishes the process operationduring interruption. Then, the process operation is returned to the stepS111 in the flow chart of FIG. 3, in which the acquiring operation ofthe data is continued.

On the other hand, in the case that it has been so set that the dataacquisition is interrupted when the interrupt request is issued in thestep S503, the step S507, and a step S510, the portable telephoneapparatus 100 interrupts the data acquisition process operation, andexecutes such a process operation for accepting the interrupt request(step S512). Then, the portable telephone apparatus 100 turned ON atimer by the set time duration so as to commence a time countingoperation (step S513), and then, the process operation is returned tothe point indicated by symbol “A” in the flow chart of FIG. 3, and thus,the process sequences are repeated from the step for judging whether ornot the present time is reached to the access setting time instant. Itshould also be noted that the notification made when the interruptrequest is issued may be displayed not only on the display unit 15, butalso may be displayed in other methods, for example, voice may beproduced from a speaker, and an LED may be flickered.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining flow operations as to the processoperation during data acquisition failure. When a data acquisitionoperation is accomplished under abnormal condition and the processoperation is entered to this process block, the portable telephoneapparatus 100 firstly judges whether or not the data acquisition processoperation is ceased to be invalidated (step S601). As the abnormalcondition of the data acquisition operation, for example, a connectionto a site is cut off while data is acquired. If it has been so set thatthe data acquisition process operation is invalidated when the dataacquisition operation fails, then the portable telephone apparatus 100ceases the data acquisition process operation (step S602), andaccomplishes the process operation during data acquisition failure. Onthe other hand, in such a case that it has been so set that there-accessing operation is carried out, the portable telephone apparatus100 turns ON a timer setting operation of the re-accessing operation bythe set time duration so as to commence a time counting operation (stepS603), and then, the process operation is returned to the pointindicated by symbol “A” in the flow chart of FIG. 3, and thus, theprocess sequences are repeated from the step for judging whether or notthe present time is reached to the access setting time instant.

Next, in the final stage of the automatic cyclic-access setting screen,as indicated in FIG. 4(d), a registration screen of a site macro settingmenu 3 is displayed. On this display screen, sequences as to the processoperation during storage memory shortage may be set.

In such a case that a size of acquired data is larger than the emptystorage capacity of the data storage unit 24, the following operation isselected. That is, the data storage operation is not carried out, orsince the existing data is deleted, an empty storage capacity isincreased so as to store the data. In the case that the data is deleted,an order as to sorts of data which are deleted in a priority is alsoselected. It should also be noted that when such an item is selectedthat other data are deleted and the data is stored, a list of data sortsas indicated in FIG. 4(e) is displayed. In this displayed list, theitems as to the deletable data are sequentially selected, so that apriority order of the data deletions may be set. Since this selection ismade, sequences as to the process operation during storage memoryshortage as indicated in a flow chart of FIG. 11 are set.

Now, a description is made of a process block when a storage memorybecomes short with reference to FIG. 11. When the portable telephoneapparatus 100 judges that an empty storage capacity becomes short withrespect to acquired data which is to be stored and the process operationis entered to this process block the portable telephone apparatus 100firstly judges whether or not the acquired data is stored (step S701).If it has been so set that the acquired data is not stored when thememory storage becomes short, the portable telephone apparatus 100ceases the data storage process operation (step S702), and accomplishesthe process operation during storage memory storage. On the other hand,in the case that the data is stored, the portable telephone apparatus100 confirms and grasps a priority order as to the deletable data (stepS703), and deletes the existing data in accordance with the priorityorder until the empty storage capacity of the data storage unit 24 ofthe memory 12 exceeds the data size (step S704). Thereafter, theportable telephone apparatus 100 accomplishes the process operationduring storage memory shortage, and the process operation is advanced tothe step S116 of the flow chart shown in FIG. 3, in which the data isstored.

It should also be noted that the above-explained automatic cyclic-accesssequential processing operations are set every arbitrary accessingsubject, for instance, every site, or every group of a predeterminedsite. Since the automatic cyclic-access sequential process operationsmay be individually set based upon a site to be accessed, frequencies ofautomatic cyclic accessing operations and process operations when anaccess to a site is not allowed can be separately set. For instance, insuch a case that information as to a news distribution site whosecontent is frequently updated is surely wanted to be acquired, it may beso set that a frequency of a cyclic-access operation is increased, andeven when the portable telephone apparatus 100 cannot access the newsdistribution site, the portable telephone apparatus 100 repeatedlyexecutes a re-accessing operation.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, the portable telephoneapparatus 100 has been arranged by that the re-accessing operation isrepeatedly carried out until the access operation can succeed.Alternatively, a total number of the re-accessing operations may be set.

Furthermore, in the case that access operations frequently fail at atime instant set by the user, the portable telephone apparatus 100 maybe alternatively arranged in such a manner that while such a timeinstant when a re-accessing operation could succeed is stored, asubsequent access operation is commenced at the time instant when theprevious access operation could succeed (namely, set time instant iscorrected). As a result, for example, even in such a case that it hasbeen so that it has been so set that an automatic cyclic-accessoperation is carried out in a time range where access operations to asite are concentrated, this setting operation for theaccess-concentrated time range may be automatically corrected, and theautomatic cyclic-access operation may be set to a time range whichavoids access congestion.

Also, while the site is accessed by setting the automatic cyclic-accessoperation as explained above, the portable telephone apparatus 100displays such an indication that an automatic access operation iscarried out on the display unit 15 as represented in FIG. 12 so as tonotify this indication to the user. It should also be noted that thenotification when the automatic cyclic-access operation is carried outmay be made not only by being displayed on the display unit 15, butalso, by employing other methods, for instance, voice may be producedfrom the speaker, or the LED may be flickered.

Alternatively, when one automatic cyclic-access operation isaccomplished, such a result of the automatic access operation to aspecific site as represented in FIG. 13 may be displayed on the displayunit 15. Based upon such a result of the automatic cyclic-accessoperation, the user may grasp a total number of data which could besuccessfully acquired, and also a total number of data whoseacquisitions failed.

Next, a description is made of viewing operation for viewing dataacquired in the portable terminal apparatus of the present embodiment.

In the portable telephone apparatus of the present embodiment, if theuser once sets the above-explained automatic cyclic-access operation,then subsequently when the present time is reached to the set timeinstant, the portable telephone apparatus automatically cyclicallyaccesses sites, data is acquired, and a condition of the cyclicallyaccessed results can be confirmed in the combined form on the displayscreen. When the user operates the operation unit 16 so as to select anacquired data viewing menu of an automatic cyclically accessingoperation, an acquired data list screen is displayed on the display unit15.

FIG. 14 to FIG. 16 are schematic diagrams for representing displayexamples as to the acquired data list screens displayed on the displayunit 15 of the portable telephone apparatus 100.

On the acquired data list screen, names of set sites are displayed in alist form, and such icons are displayed on the left side of the sitenames. These icons are “not yet” for indicating that a site is not yetviewed, “fail” for representing that a data acquisition fails, and thelike. Also, the latest dates when the data are acquired are indicated onthe right side of the site names. When the user operates a key of theoperation unit 16 so as to set a cursor to an arbitrary item of the listand pushes a view button, acquired data is displayed. In other words,similar to the reception mail list screen and the like, the acquireddata list screen is constituted in such a manner that an item which iswanted to be viewed can be selected from the list, and a data contentthereof can be displayed.

For instance, in FIG. 14(a), the cursor has been set to a second item“XX news” from a top item. In this item “XX news”, while both a data of“December 30” and the icon of “not yet” have been displayed, data wasacquired on December 30 and the acquired data is brought into anot-yet-viewed condition. If a view button is pushed under thiscondition, then a main content of the corresponding news article asshown in FIG. 14(b). On the other hand, in FIG. 15(a), the cursor hasbeen set to a third item of “news X O” from a top item. As to this item“news XO”, both a data acquisition date and an icon are not displayed,and the data is brought into a not-yet-acquired condition. When the viewbutton is pushed under this condition, as indicated in FIG. 15(b), sucha message that the data has not yet been acquired is displayed. Also, inFIG. 16(a), the cursor has been set to the lowest item of “weekly stockinformation.” In this item “weekly stock information”, while both a dateof “December 23” and the icon of “fail” are displayed, this item impliessuch a condition that the data acquisition failed on December 23. Whenthe view button is pushed under this condition, as represented in FIG.16(b), such a message that the data acquisition was interrupted and thusfailed is displayed.

As previously explained, since the data acquired from the plural sitescan be anytime viewed in an easy manner by merely performing the simpleoperation on the list screen such a cumbersome operation can be omittedin which when the information is wanted to be confirmed, the site accessoperation must be carried out every site. Also, in the case that thesite access operation can be carried out based upon the content set bythe user every pre-determined time instant, the data can beautomatically acquired to be stored. As a result, even in such a casethat the portable telephone apparatus is moved to such an area where theelectromagnetic waves cannot be reached, for example, an area within atrain of a subway, when the information is wanted to be confirmed, theuser can view anytime the latest information. Furthermore, such aproblem does not occur in which when the information is wanted to beconfirmed, the access operations are concentrated to the site, so thatthe data cannot be acquired from this site. Also, even in such a casethat the empty storage capacity of the memory is small, since theunnecessary data can be deleted in accordance with the previously setpriority order and the acquired data can be stored, the acquired datacan be continuously updated by the latest information, and thus, theupdated data can be stored.

Also, while a retrieving unit may be alternatively provided in thecontrol unit 11 and this retrieving unit may retrieve such data whichhave been acquired from sites to be stored in the data storage unit 24,this retrieving unit may alternatively retrieve desirable data from theplurality of acquired data in response to an instruction issued from theuser based upon either an arbitrary keyword or such a status as anacquisition date and a not-yet-read status. Then, the retrieveddesirable data may be displayed on the display unit 15. Alternatively,while a data transferring unit may be provided in the control unit 11, atransfer destination has been previously set by a designation of theuser, and then, the acquired data may be automatically transferred to apredetermined transfer destination based upon this set content by thedata transferring unit.

It should be understood that the present invention is not limited onlyto the above-described embodiment, but may be realized in various sortsof modes without departing from the technical scope and spirit of thepresent invention. Although the above-described embodiment hasexemplified such a case that the portable telephone apparatus has beenemployed as one example of the portable terminal apparatus, the presentinvention is not limited thereto, but may be applied to various sorts ofportable terminal apparatus having communication functions, forinstance, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

As previously explained, in accordance with the present embodiment,while the sequential process operation related to the access to the siteis previously and arbitrarily set by the user, the sequential processoperations capable of recovering/processing system operations in thecase that the failure specific to the portable terminal apparatushappens to occur, for instance, when the portable terminal apparatus islocated outside the service area where the electromagnetic waves can bereached, and when the storage capacity becomes short, can beautomatically carried out. As a consequence, for instance, even when thedata cannot be acquired at the set time instant, since the re-accessingoperation is carried out, the data may be acquired; even when thestorage capacity of the memory becomes short, since the existing data isdeleted, the newly acquired data can be stored, namely, also in theportable terminal apparatus for performing the wireless communication,the periodical information acquiring operation may be carried out whichis substantially equivalent to the automatic cyclically accessingoperation. Then, if the portable terminal apparatus is arranged in sucha manner that a total number of re-accessing operations may bepreviously and arbitrarily set, then the executions of the re-accessingoperations are accomplished based upon this set time and the periodicalaccessing operation may be subsequently carried out. As a result, theentire access frequency may be suppressed, and thus, the totalcommunication cost may be reduced by this suppressed access frequency.

Also, since the access operation to the designated site and the dataacquisition/storage operations are automatically carried out in apredetermined time period, such a cumbersome operation that every timethe data is viewed, the site is selected to be accessed is no longerrequired. Also, when the user wants to confirm the information, the usercan always view the latest information in the simple operationirrespective of such a condition as to whether or not the portableterminal apparatus is communicatable (namely whether or not portableterminal apparatus can access target site). Furthermore, since theinformation acquired from the plural sits is displayed on the menuscreen in the list form and the content can be viewed by merelyselecting the item, the user can readily confirm the information as tothe plural sites.

While the present invention has been described in detail, or withreference to the specific embodiment, it is obvious to the ordinarilyskilled person that the present invention may be changed and modified invarious manners without departing from the technical scope and spirit ofthe present invention.

The present patent application has been made based upon Japanese PatentApplication No. 2002-348218 filed on Nov. 29, 2002, and the contents ofwhich are incorporated hereinto as references.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As previously described, in accordance with the present invention, sincethe sequential process operation related to the access to the site onthe network is previously set by the user, such a portable terminalapparatus can be provided. That is, while the process sequences capableof recovering/processing system operations in the case that the failurespecific to the portable terminal apparatus happens to occur, forinstance, when the portable terminal apparatus is located outside theservice area where the electromagnetic waves can be reached, and whenthe storage capacity becomes short, can be automatically carried out,the information can be acquired even in the portable terminal apparatusfor performing the wireless communication by executing the automaticcyclically accessing operation every predetermined time instant, and caneasily acquire the desirable information when this information isrequired.

1. A portable terminal apparatus, comprising: a network access unit thataccesses a site on a network so as to acquire data; a data storage unitthat stores the acquired data thereinto; an accessing process sequencesetting unit capable of arbitrarily setting an access setting conditionrelating to the access operation to the site on the network in responseto an instruction of a user, the access setting condition containing anaccess destination, a time instant, and a processing sequence; anaccessing process sequence storage unit that stores a series ofprocessing sequences based upon the set access setting condition; and anaccessing process executing unit that executes a predeterminedprocessing sequence to perform an accessing process operation to the setsite in accordance with the access setting condition when the presenttime is reached to a preset time instant.
 2. The portable terminalapparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein: the accessing processsequence setting unit sets a processing sequence in at least one of anaccess starting process sequence for starting an access operation to theset site at the preset time instant, a data acquiring process sequencefor acquiring data from the accessed site, and a data storing processsequence for storing the acquired data into the data storage unit. 3.The portable terminal apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein: theaccessing process sequence setting unit sets a process sequence duringout of service area in the case that the own apparatus is locatedoutside the service area where communications can be performed when anaccess operation to the set site is commenced in the access startingprocess sequence.
 4. The portable terminal apparatus as set forth inclaim 2 wherein: the accessing process sequence setting unit sets aprocess sequence during another task initiation in the case that the ownapparatus is under use since the own apparatus executes another task,when an access operation to the set site is commenced in the accessstarting process sequence.
 5. The portable terminal apparatus as setforth in claim 2 wherein: the accessing process sequence setting unitsets a process sequence during site access failure in the case that theaccessing operation is failed when the set site is accessed in the dataacquiring process sequence.
 6. The portable terminal apparatus as setforth in claim 2 wherein: the accessing process sequence setting unitsets a process sequence during interruption in the case that the ownapparatus accepts an interrupt request when data is acquired from theset site in the data acquiring process sequence.
 7. The portableterminal apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein: the accessingprocess sequence setting unit sets a process sequence during dataacquisition failure in the case that the own apparatus fails to acquirethe data when data is acquired from the set site in the data acquiringprocess sequence.
 8. The portable terminal apparatus as set forth inclaim 2 wherein: the accessing process sequence setting unit sets aprocess sequence during storage memory shortage in the case that astorage capacity of the data storage unit becomes short when theacquired data is stored in the data storing process sequence.
 9. Theportable terminal apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising aretrieving unit that retrieves the acquired data stored in the datastorage unit.
 10. The portable terminal apparatus as set forth in claim1 wherein: the accessing process sequence setting unit is capable ofsetting a transfer destination to which the acquired data istransferred; and the portable terminal apparatus further comprises adata transferring unit that transfers the acquired data to the settransfer destination.